Meat processing plants have been ordered to stay open during the pandemic. For workers, the coronavirus complicates an already dangerous job.

Taylor Borden,Associated PressMay 2, 2020, 02:26 IST

New protective barriers between Tyson Foods workers at the company's Springdale, Arkansas plant on April 24, 2020.Tyson Foods

Workers at meat industry giants, including Smithfield Foods and Tyson Foods, have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Major facilities, like a Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota that produces about 5% of the country's pork supply, have been forced to shutter.
A lawsuit filed on April 23 alleges that Smithfield employees did not even have time to wash their hands or wipe their noses.
Meat industry executives say longterm closures of meat processing plants would push America toward food shortages.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on April 28 demanding that meat processing plants stay open amid the pandemic to protect the nation's food supply chain.
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Trump has mandated meat processing plants reopen as America barrels toward meat shortages.

A package of Smithfield breakfast sausage sits in a shopping cart outside a grocery store in Des Moines, Iowa on April 14, 2020. Charlie Neibergall/AP

Smithfield is one of the plants that intend to clean the facility and implement more protections in the hopes of reopening. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control sent a team to the plant in mid-April to examine how it can be safely restarted.

Workers wear protective masks and stand between plastic dividers at Tyson's Camilla, Georgia poultry processing plant amid the coronavirus outbreak in April 2020. Associated Press

Smithfield is one of the plants that intend to clean the facility and implement more protections in the hopes of reopening. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control sent a team to the plant in mid-April to examine how it can be safely restarted.

Now, plants have started adding extra hand-sanitizing stations, scanning employees' temperatures before they enter, and installing Plexiglas barriers in some areas.

Thermal imaging scanner measures the temperature of a Tyson employee before entering the company's processing plant in Rogers, Arkansas on April 24, 2020. Tyson Foods

Even before the coronavirus began sickening workers, jobs in the meatpacking industry have been considered among the most dangerous in the US. Workers are exposed to a long list of dangers from hazardous chemicals to sharp knives.

A workstation divider at Tyson Foods Rogers, Arkansas plant on April 24, 2020. Tyson Foods

Even before the coronavirus began sickening workers, jobs in the meatpacking industry have been considered among the most dangerous in the US. Workers are exposed to a long list of dangers from hazardous chemicals to sharp knives.

The Smithfield plant is vital to a burgeoning immigrant community in Sioux Falls, offering opportunities for even those without a college degree or fluent English. Smithfield offers pay starting at over $15 an hour, health insurance, and plenty of overtime.

Social distancing reminder in English, Spanish and Marshallese at a Tyson Foods plant in Rogers, Arkansas on April 24, 2020. Tyson Foods

The Smithfield plant is vital to a burgeoning immigrant community in Sioux Falls, offering opportunities for even those without a college degree or fluent English. Smithfield offers pay starting at over $15 an hour, health insurance, and plenty of overtime.

A Smithfield employee filed a lawsuit against the company on April 23, expressing concern about the working conditions.

Nancy Reynoza, the director of Que Pasa Sioux Falls, who organized a protest in solidarity with Smithfield employees after many workers complained of unsafe working conditions on April 9, 2020. Associated Press

The concentration of cases has highlighted the particular susceptibility of meat processing workers, who stand shoulder-to-shoulder on the line and congregate in crowded locker rooms and cafeterias.

New protective barriers between Tyson Foods workers at the company's Springdale, Arkansas plant on April 24, 2020. Tyson Foods

The concentration of cases has highlighted the particular susceptibility of meat processing workers, who stand shoulder-to-shoulder on the line and congregate in crowded locker rooms and cafeterias.

This was no abstract worry: At the Smithfield Foods plant where he worked, the locker rooms were so tightly packed Amosa's husband said he sometimes had to push his way through a crowd.

The Smithfield pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Associated Press

This was no abstract worry: At the Smithfield Foods plant where he worked, the locker rooms were so tightly packed Amosa's husband said he sometimes had to push his way through a crowd.

Kulule Amosa told the Associated Press that her husband earns $17.70 an hour at a South Dakota pork plant doing a job so physically demanding it can only be performed in 30-minute increments. After each shift in the second week of April, he left exhausted as usual — but he didn't want to go home.

Kulule Amosa outside the apartment she shares with her husband who works at the Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on April 13, 2020. Associated Press

Kulule Amosa told the Associated Press that her husband earns $17.70 an hour at a South Dakota pork plant doing a job so physically demanding it can only be performed in 30-minute increments. After each shift in the second week of April, he left exhausted as usual — but he didn't want to go home.

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Meat processing plants have been ordered to stay open during the pandemic. For workers, the coronavirus complicates an already dangerous job.

Trump has mandated meat processing plants reopen as America barrels toward meat shortages.

Smithfield is one of the plants that intend to clean the facility and implement more protections in the hopes of reopening. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control sent a team to the plant in mid-April to examine how it can be safely restarted.

Now, plants have started adding extra hand-sanitizing stations, scanning employees' temperatures before they enter, and installing Plexiglas barriers in some areas.

Even before the coronavirus began sickening workers, jobs in the meatpacking industry have been considered among the most dangerous in the US. Workers are exposed to a long list of dangers from hazardous chemicals to sharp knives.

The Smithfield plant is vital to a burgeoning immigrant community in Sioux Falls, offering opportunities for even those without a college degree or fluent English. Smithfield offers pay starting at over $15 an hour, health insurance, and plenty of overtime.

A Smithfield employee filed a lawsuit against the company on April 23, expressing concern about the working conditions.

The concentration of cases has highlighted the particular susceptibility of meat processing workers, who stand shoulder-to-shoulder on the line and congregate in crowded locker rooms and cafeterias.

This was no abstract worry: At the Smithfield Foods plant where he worked, the locker rooms were so tightly packed Amosa's husband said he sometimes had to push his way through a crowd.

Kulule Amosa told the Associated Press that her husband earns $17.70 an hour at a South Dakota pork plant doing a job so physically demanding it can only be performed in 30-minute increments. After each shift in the second week of April, he left exhausted as usual — but he didn't want to go home.